Play vs. Film

I really liked watching this film, if only for the simple face that it brought the play to life. Like any play/book that has been made into a movie there are a lot of similarities and differences. The film did I really great job of sticking to the original script, except for the ending but I'll get to that shortly.
The characters' personalities where very similaer to those in the play which helped the film to stay on page with the play. Personality had a lot to do with the way these characters acted and responded to situations. Reading the play, Stanley hold a lot of anger from the very beginning. But in the film, Stanley acted more like a jerk (not just angry) but as the film continued and he learned more about Blanche he transformed and his anger just kept exploding.
Seeing Blanche's character on screen we saw a lot more of her nervousness and uncertainty with her surroundings just through the way that she talked. She talked fast and seemed to babble about unimportant, random things. It was really hard to understand her. In the film we could also actually hear the music that Blanche always talked about hearing. This just added to Blanche's character because we could actually see how it effected her. Honestly, Blanche kind of creeped me out in the film. The music only increased a lot of the tension and suspension that was going on. Instead of just reading how Blanche's behavior was getting stranger and she was starting to lose it, the film actually used all of these acting cues so that Blanche looked increasingly crazy as the film went on.
Stella was much more passive and even more of a pushover in the film than she had been in the play. The actress who played Stella showed this by the way Stella is always hiding her face. She was always either covering her face with her hands or standing with her back to the speaker and her face against the wall.
Reading the infamous "Stella!" scene in the play, my impression was pretty much "seriously?! she just went back to him?" But the film made this scene have more of an impact. Yes, it was so dramatic that it was quite funny. The film showed us that Stella and Stanley really did have a relationship. Reading the play, it didn't really seem like there was much between them despite the fact that they were married.
The openess of the set in the film expands upon the theme that Blanche does not fit in with the culture and changing South. The openess places her right in the middle of it. People are always just walking in, she's constantly bombarded by people who fit in the "new South."
Now, the rape scene and the end of the film... I have to say that I much preferred the film version. The rape scene looked much more violent in the film than I read in the play. Then at the very end, the way the men looked at Stanley was very accusatory where they hadn't made any comment in the play. And then the fact that Stella tells Stanley to never touch her again and then leaves Stanley, changes the impact so that the blame is actually put on Stanley. Reading the play, I felt bad for Blanche because she was being sent away. But, watching the film I felt that it was necessary for Blanche to be sent away and Stella didn't have a choice because Blanche was not handling any changes or basically life. I liked the ending of the film better because as passive as Stella was throughout the whole film, she all of a sudden had a burst of courage and left Stanley at the end.

A Streetcar Named Desire

This was an interesting piece because it was so different from our other readings and especially our last reading, Their Eyes Were Watching God. A lot of the differences though, were similar to Kate Chopin's writings. Both Williams' and Chopin's pieces were set in Louisianna where the culture was completely different. "A Streetcar Named Desire" had even less mention of race than Chopin did. There was only one mention of a black woman in the 1st scene and then not again. I think that the minor detail that this was character was only given the title of "negro woman" (she wasn't given a name) shows that race was still an issue. The only scene this character was mentioned in, she was given a task to do by a white woman, implying that she was a servant. Racism was still an issue but not in the way that we have become accostomed to in our readings and in our class discussions, it was not white vs. black. Because "A Streetcar Named Desire" was set in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Blanche's biggest issue with Stanley was his race, he was an immigrant. I found this interesting that Williams still covered one of our biggest themes-racism, but in an entirely new way and amongst different individuals. Yet at the same time, Williams keeps one of the strongest themes of culture in Blanche's character. Blanche is the stereotypical Southern belle who had grown up on a plantation. We have seen repeatedly in our readings how important the plantation is a symbol of the Southern family. Here there were also similarities to Katherine Anne Porter's writings. This picture of the Old South and this way of life was disappearing. Blanche and Stella's family had died and they had to sell Bella Reve, both the physical and symbolic aspects of their family had disappeared, and this was a key theme for the Old South. Stella had managed to adjust to life and fit in to life in the French Quarter. Stella's life symbolizes the New South. Blanche on the other hand represents the Old South and when she went to live in New Orleans with Stella and Stanley, she did not fit in and in the end she wasn't able to make it.
I also found similarities to Zora Neale Hurston in the scene where Stanley beats Stella. (on pg 653-654). The issue of domestic abuse is glossed over as though it is no big deal. The same happened when Tea Cake whipped Janie. Its almost like its expected. It was not unusual. This was another scene where it was obvious that Blanche did not fit in because of the fact that she saw domestic abuse as a problem. I thought this was very interesting that this was a pair of the culture and society of the time.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

I think this book was my favorite reading so far this semester. That is probably becomes the length of the novel allowed for more development of the characters. It was more of a story than just a brief look into a social issue.
Hurston took a completely different stance on the life of blacks at the time. Hurston does not compare Janie or any of the other characters to whites or place them in an inferior social class. It is a story about Janie, not a social novel about how racial issues depict Janie’s life. This way of life is made apparent when Janie and Tea Cake move to the muck and Hurston writes of the way blacks in the muck live. Hurston goes against the typical stereotype of the time by showing the blacks enjoying themselves and having fun. Wright only wrote about the hardships that blacks faced and the injustices that were done against them by whites. Hurston was the complete opposite by showing poor blacks minus whites and injustices or social issues. Hurston celebrates the black community; she doesn’t look at what the black community is missing because of the attitudes of the white community.
It was really hard to find an opinion on Tea Cake. After Jody, Tea Cake is introduced as a character that allows Janie to embrace her innocence and enjoy life, to be free for the first time in her life. But Tea Cake’s actions continually force us to reevaluate our opinions of him. When Tea Cake left with Janie’s money after they are first married, I immediately thought the worst of him, but Tea Cake continually redeems himself. Then once I am really starting to like Tea Cake and be happy for Janie and the life and freedom that she is able to have with him, Tea Cake whips her. This scene was a complete shock to me. Yet, like all of the other incidents with Tea Cake, Hurston writes it so that I didn’t hate Tea Cake. Whipping Janie is a social acceptable issue and Hurston writes so that we, as readers, see it that way also. This almost gives us a better understanding and insight into Janie because Janie understands society’s stance on the issue and then her love for Tea Cake on top of that makes it so that she does not hold it against him. We feel the same way, as shocked as we are, we don’t hold it against Tea Cake.
One of my favorite quotes was at the ending when Janie was talking to Phoebe and says “…you got tuh go there tuh know there…Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves.” (pg 285) This basically summed up Janie’s entire life and this novel. She needed to live and experience life. That’s what her life was like with Tea Cake, she was no longer playing safe and doing what others expected. Janie was living with feeling and emotion.

The Ethics of Living Jim Crow

I really enjoyed this reading, as much as you can enjoy a reading that depicts the sad realities of racism and the Jim Crow laws in the South. The tone throughout this story is casual, as though Richard Wright has already accepted the Jim Crow laws and what they mean for his life and is now just reporting the facts. He has removed his emotion and feelings from the writing. The first thing that Wright does is describe the land, to let us know that the South was not just racist is its actions but also in the way towns were set up. Wright associated anything green with white people because the only green that could be found was where the white people lived. Blacks, on the other hand, had cinders in their yards. Blacks and whites were also separated by railroad tracks, with the blacks being located behind the tracks. Using the word "behind" implies that the whites were in front of the tracks, emphasizing the superiority of whites. I think one of the most surprising and disturbing events that Wright described was when he talked about fighting. "Broken bottles were dangerous; the left you cut, bleeding, and helpless." (pg 549) Whites fought in a way that blacks could not. I think this fully describes racism; whites treated blacks horribly and behaved any way they wanted but blacks could not retaliate or behave the same way towards whites. This was the basic definition for the Jim Crow laws. Learning the Jim Crow laws meant that blacks had to accept the way they were treated and we see Wright realizing this more at the same time that he grows more distant from his writing. This education took time because the Jim Crow laws were dictated by whites and changed to fit any situation or action that a white person felt necessary. In the incident were Richard was accused of not saying "Mr." in front of Pease's name, Morrie and Pease trapped Richard between the two benches with his back to the wall. This was a perfect symbol for how blacks were trapped by white rules and how they were supposed to interact with whites. Blacks were always unsure of how to act and they were always outnumbered by whites. Richard "stood hesitating, trying to frame a neutral reply." (pg 551) We see Richard's final acceptance when his education is just about when every time there is mention of a black person being abused or beaten by a white, they are referred to as 'lucky." "Huh! Is tha' all they did t' her," (pg 552) no one is surprised by the extent of whites cruelty towards the black community.
I felt that this was the most shocking piece we have read because it did not just look at racism and the abuse of blacks. Richard Wright explained how the only way to live in the South as a black was to fully accept the horrible way you were treated and often go so far as to believe that you deserved it. Wright's way of writing facts and lacking emotion makes the piece even more powerful.